Mir to fight McCully at UFC 86

Dmac · 04-02-2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMAWeekly

Mir to fight McCully at UFC 86

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Frank Mir will fight Justin McCully on July 5 in Las Vegas, sources close to both camps have confirmed. Bout agreements have been signed, adding the first heavyweight match-up to a card headlined by Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin.

In his last Octagon appearance, Mir took just 90 seconds to submit the heavily hyped Brock Lesnar by kneebar at UFC 81. The former champ has been slowly on the mend since a 2004 motorcycle accident brought a halt to his career, winning three of five fights since returning to competition. A win over McCully may put the Las Vegas-based heavyweight within striking distance of a title shot.

McCully, 8-3-2, has not fought since last April, where he won a unanimous decision victory over Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9. He was scheduled to fight last September at UFC 77, but an elbow injury forced him off the card. The Team Punishment heavyweight will be facing one of his toughest tests in Mir.

Though the UFC has yet to confirm the bout, the fight is expected to be part of the pay-per-view broadcast.

I don't see this as much of a contest really, as Mir showed against Lesnar, even with the doubters that he doesn't have it anymore, he is still like a piranha that will pounce on you in a instant, he is definitely the best heavyweight bjj fighter around. McCully would just be in for a hard night.

Twist of Suffy · 04-02-2008, 11:49 AM

If they want to build up Mir again so he can fight for the belt so be it. I would love to see Nog vs Mir bjj to the max!

Dmac · 04-02-2008, 12:13 PM

Nog is bigger meaning that Mir can move faster thus making it easier to cinch in whatever he may choose.

da one enigma · 04-02-2008, 03:47 PM

I don't know if Big Nog is "bigger" per se. I know he's taller than Mir, but Frank usually weighs more. Either way, I think Mir will take this fight and if he wins this one, he definitely should have Big Nog. That would be a sick fight to see.

The heavyweight division is really up in the air. If the UFC can get Randy back and sign Fedor things would definitely get interesting. But for the time being, the heavyweight division needs some strong contenders and Mir is the top dog and next in line.

Unless the UFC decides to do winner of Werdum/Vera VS. winner of Mir/McCully. But I'd must rather see Mir take on Big Nog and have the winner of Werdum/Vera face Heath Herring. And there needs to be a Kongo/Gonzaga match.

Dmac · 04-02-2008, 03:57 PM

Weight or not if you stood them both together side by side you would clearly pick nog out as the bigger guy mass wise. Agree with you I do too about him getting Nog, after a huge win against Lesnar and then against McCully who is on a streak I think, that should entitle him to the shot.

da one enigma · 04-02-2008, 04:01 PM

Hm, I dunno about Big Nog being bigger than Mir mass wise. That's definitely debatable. Mir is a pretty solid guy and he looked to be in great shape with a good amount of mass in that Lesnar fight. He's got more weight compacted into a shorter frame.

Either way, McCully is a pretty big fellow himself. He's gonna try and ground and pound him out, but Frank works best off his back. McCully probably needs to keep this fight standing, cause I think he'll have the advantage there.

Dmac · 04-02-2008, 04:04 PM

McCully maybe the bigger guy but I see Mir as having the more talent of the duo, sure he may not have been showing what he once was but this is an opportunity for him to do that. I don't count his win over Lesnar as a good performance because that was luck on Mir's part that Lesnar made a rookie mistake.

da one enigma · 04-02-2008, 04:07 PM

That's definitely very true. Mir was gettin pounded on and capitalized on Lesnar's mistake. I mean, I guess that's to Mir's credit, but still, I agree with it not being an impressive performance. That's why I believe it was a good idea for Mir to have another fight before challenging for the title.

Frank will probably have more of an opportunity to showcase his skills in this fight with McCully. He's definitely on a roll as of late and looks like the pre-accident Mir.

Dmac · 04-02-2008, 04:09 PM

Oh definitely and no offence to McCully but I simply see this as a chance for Mir to rub his final stretch of rust off and show us what we saw in his days as champion, because I tell you, the sooner he shows us that side again, the sooner he will have that very championship back.

Twist of Suffy · 04-02-2008, 07:16 PM

I'd actually like to see Vera (assuming he wins) face Mir again. Mir deserves a rematch because he was such a wreck of himself at the time against Vera and then the winner of that gets Nog.

Mir to fight McCully at UFC 86

This is a discussion on Mir to fight McCully at UFC 86 within the MMA - Mixed Martial Arts forums, part of the Sports Forums category; Originally Posted by MMAWeekly Mir to fight McCully at UFC 86 Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Frank Mir will ...